New Birthday Party Business to Open in Mineola

The typical birthday party for any child under the age of six usually consists of cake, presents, tears and after everyone departs, a home and a backyard that looks like a Kansas tornado rolled through on its way to the land of Oz.

Sisters Meera Arora and Reena Sood, both of Littleneck are looking to relieve the pressures of hosting a birthday party, moving it out of the home and into a business space in Mineola. The two women, both mothers themselves, came before the on August 3 for a special use permit for a new party business called “Trucks and Tiaras” for children aged birth to 6 years old at 464 Jericho Turnpike. The hearing was a continuation from one in July.

“This is something that we put together because we want kids to have a good time to do it so that parents can afford a birthday party for their child and it doesn’t have to be $1,000,” Arora said.

Parties would be held at the location from 5 to 7 p.m. on Fridays and weekends at 10 a.m. and from 5 - 7 p.m. A “Mommy & Me” time would also be held during the week and require the presence of parents.

Only one party would be held at a time. Arora stated that there are two 3-hour slots on Thursdays for the sessions. Office hours are tentatively set to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays.

“We don’t intend to be open during the week past seven o’clock or on the weekends past seven o’clock,” Arora said.

The facility features 1,000 sq. ft. of space, enough for 12-15 kids plus two parents for each child for a total of 45 people. Parents would be required to stay with their child through the duration of the event and children would not be allowed to be dropped off in front of the business on Jericho Turnpike.

A large parking lot is located in the rear of the building. “This afternoon there were about eight cars in the lot and the lot can hold about four times that so the fact that in my opinion you have a wedding planning place - which isn’t a high-volume place - and you have the cabinetry place which is also kind of on an appointment base and of course you have the Subway  which has a lot of turnover,” Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira said. “I’m comforatable, at least personally that the parking, especially considering the hours for this type of operation will be sufficient in that block.”

Food would be catered via and consist of pizza and bagels. A dumpster is located in the backof the business and a private carter has been contracted for pickups. No cooking wuld be done on premisis.

A gate is being placed in the back of the store to conceal the stairway to the maintenence space. Initially the only employees would be the sisters, but they said they would like “at least” one or two additional employees who would be about 16 or 17 years of age.